18 fishermen escape Arakan Army capture and return home

18 fishermen who were captured by Myanmar's armed group Arakan Army while fishing in the sea off St. Martin's Island in Cox's Bazar have finally returned home. They risked their lives and escaped with a trawler. The police handed them over to their families on Thursday night.

The fishermen had been missing since last Tuesday. They reached Teknaf's Shahparir Island jetty in a trawler yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. The Coast Guard rescued them and handed them over to the police.

According to the descriptions of the returning fishermen, the Arakan Army chased and captured five trawlers of Bangladeshi fishermen on Tuesday evening. These trawlers were being taken towards Myanmar at gunpoint. 18 of the captured fishermen were in the same trawler. At one stage, when the Arakan Army speedboat moved ahead, the fishermen quickly turned the trawler around and escaped taking advantage of the darkness.

Fisherman Dil Mohammad said, “There were two members of the Arakan Army in our trawler. When we tried to turn the trawler around and escape, they jumped into the sea and swam towards Myanmar.”

The trawler in which the fishermen returned home is owned by Mohammad Hasan of Shahparir Island. He is the president of the local trawler owners’ association. Mohammad Hasan said, “There were 10 fishermen in my trawler. Later, the Arakan Army picked up eight more there. Fortunately, they were able to escape under the cover of darkness.”

Teknaf Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Zayed Md. Nazmun Noor said that 18 fishermen were handed over to the police from the custody of the Coast Guard. Later, after verification, they were returned to their families. During this time, a bond was also taken on the condition that they would not go fishing near Myanmar waters again.